I'm a newbie with 3a hair. My apologies if I get some of the terminology wrong, I only discovered this site a few days ago and decided to try the no poo method starting yesterday.

Prior to finding this website, I would wash my hair once a fortnight as per a recommendation from my hairdresser a few years ago on my extremely dry hair. Now that I've seen that it's the sulfate in shampoo that damages hair I'm guessing I can co wash every few days as other people on this site seem to do - is that correct? My hair never gets greasy so I've never been bothered by leaving it a while between washes.

My next question is on brushing. I used to wet my hair everyday with a spray and comb it, then wet it some more and add hair serum. After co washing yesterday, I put my hair in a pineapple last night then took it out and just sprayed with a little water and added some serum. Am I right in thinking that I don't comb my hair again until my next co wash?

My next question is on products. I live in the UK and I notice that a lot of the products mentioned on this site seem to be American (judging by the dollar signs!). Does anyone know of any good products for 3a hair in the UK?

Finally, here are some pics of my hair at the mo. I'm in the process of growing it out from having a short pixie cut. The first two are from yesterday after I co washed it, the next two are from earlier today after taking it out of pineapple and adding water and serum and the last one is how it is now. Does anyone have any suggestions on techniques or products they think I should try?

I'm relatively new too I've been pure CG going on to 2 months or so I think. I recently bought the CG handbook if you're just starting out you might want to pick up a copy it has a lot of helpful information about cleansing styling and trimming curly hair. It even comes with a DVD that shows you how to wash your hair. Best of all it's not expensive here in the USA I got it online at Walmart.com for $10.

As for your questions, yes you can cowash every few days. I usually cowash every 2-3 days depending on how my hair is looking and if I've gone to the gym.

Yes you are correct no brush should touch your hair after you have styled it and it has dried. Only detangle when you cowash and should be done gently.

As for products in the UK sorry I can't help but they have threads on here where you can swap buy or get advice from curlies in the UK.

You should definitely find out your hair properties. Once you know that you'll know what your hair needs and what products you should try. You can find that info on this site. Sleep on a satin pillowcase or wrap your pineapple in a satin cap or scarf to minimize frizz. You can use a mix of water and conditioner to mist your hair after undoing the pineapple to revive curls.

Good luck on your journey and your curls are already nicely formed so they should become spectacular.

Also this site was so, so helpful to me in terms of learning about how things like my hair's properties and weather might affect it. It also helped me figure out what ingredients my hair likes and aids in choosing products:

livecurlylivefree.com

Good luck! Your hair will definitely be more moisturized and less dry if you go CG. I have very dry hair too. It need a hit of moisture everyday and I co-wash every other day.